Pope Benedict walks in a forested area in northern Italy. (CNS photo/L'Osservatore Romano)

VATICAN CITY — Pope Benedict’s World Peace Day message, released today at the Vatican, is dedicated to environmental themes as seen from a Christian perspective. The full text is here. (UPDATE: Here is our story.) (SECOND UPDATE: The full text also will be available in the next edition of the CNS documentary service, Origins, Vol. 39, No. 29, dated Dec. 24.)

Below are some key excerpts, beginning with the pope’s point that true ecological awareness is linked to faith in God.

The environment must be seen as God’s gift to all people, and the use we make of it entails a shared responsibility for all humanity, especially the poor and future generations. I also observed that whenever nature, and human beings in particular, are seen merely as products of chance or an evolutionary determinism, our overall sense of responsibility wanes.

Pope Benedict notes that previous popes have warned about an environmental crisis, which has grown worse with passing decades.

Can we remain indifferent before the problems associated with such realities as climate change, desertification, the deterioration and loss of productivity in vast agricultural areas, the pollution of rivers and aquifers, the loss of biodiversity, the increase of natural catastrophes and the deforestation of equatorial and tropical regions? Can we disregard the growing phenomenon of “environmental refugees”, people who are forced by the degradation of their natural habitat to forsake it – and often their possessions as well – in order to face the dangers and uncertainties of forced displacement? Can we remain impassive in the face of actual and potential conflicts involving access to natural resources? All these are issues with a profound impact on the exercise of human rights, such as the right to life, food, health and development.

The pope describes today’s ecological predicament as part of a much wider crisis of values.

It should be evident that the ecological crisis cannot be viewed in isolation from other related questions, since it is closely linked to the notion of development itself and our understanding of man in his relationship to others and to the rest of creation. Prudence would thus dictate a profound, long-term review of our model of development, one which would take into consideration the meaning of the economy and its goals with an eye to correcting its malfunctions and misapplications. The ecological health of the planet calls for this, but it is also demanded by the cultural and moral crisis of humanity whose symptoms have for some time been evident in every part of the world. Humanity needs a profound cultural renewal; it needs to rediscover those values which can serve as the solid basis for building a brighter future for all. Our present crises – be they economic, food-related, environmental or social – are ultimately also moral crises, and all of them are interrelated. They require us to rethink the path which we are traveling together. Specifically, they call for a lifestyle marked by sobriety and solidarity …

Environmental solutions must cut across the rich-poor divide, he says.

The ecological crisis shows the urgency of a solidarity which embraces time and space. It is important to acknowledge that among the causes of the present ecological crisis is the historical responsibility of the industrialized countries. Yet the less developed countries, and emerging countries in particular, are not exempt from their own responsibilities with regard to creation, for the duty of gradually adopting effective environmental measures and policies is incumbent upon all. This would be accomplished more easily if self-interest played a lesser role in the granting of aid and the sharing of knowledge and cleaner technologies.

The pope insists that concern for the ecology should lead people to reject consumerist lifestyles.

It is becoming more and more evident that the issue of environmental degradation challenges us to examine our life-style and the prevailing models of consumption and production, which are often unsustainable from a social, environmental and even economic point of view. We can no longer do without a real change of outlook which will result in new life-styles, “in which the quest for truth, beauty, goodness and communion with others for the sake of common growth are the factors which determine consumer choices, savings and investments”.

He underlines that in the church’s view, ecology begins with the human person.

Young people cannot be asked to respect the environment if they are not helped, within families and society as a whole, to respect themselves. The book of nature is one and indivisible; it includes not only the environment but also individual, family and social ethics. Our duties towards the environment flow from our duties towards the person, considered both individually and in relation to others.

The pope concludes with an invitation to action and prayer.

Protecting the natural environment in order to build a world of peace is thus a duty incumbent upon each and all. It is an urgent challenge, one to be faced with renewed and concerted commitment; it is also a providential opportunity to hand down to coming generations the prospect of a better future for all. May this be clear to world leaders and to those at every level who are concerned for the future of humanity: the protection of creation and peacemaking are profoundly linked! For this reason, I invite all believers to raise a fervent prayer to God, the all-powerful Creator and the Father of mercies, so that all men and women may take to heart the urgent appeal: If you want to cultivate peace, protect creation.

One Response to If you want to cultivate peace, protect creation

Why is the Church even dipping her feet into these waters? Where does Jesus direct our attention to the threat of mankind destroying His world?

The real danger is the evil of mankind thinking they are so important that they could even destroy the eco system God created. It’s like the thinking that led to the Tower of Babble. Meanwhile the modern day, so self deceived intellectual worshipers flocking to prostrate themselves before the god of the earth think nothing about murdering the life Catholics professed to be is given by “Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life” every Sunday in Mass. And in this country, such worshipers of the earth and their self-importance will give their name identification and their vote to the proabortion party, disregarding what they stand to Profess to believe after the gospel and homily. And they disregard what they say praying before the Holy Eucharist the only prayer Our Lord ever gave us so the at we would know how to talk to the Father in which we pray for,” God’s will to be done on earth…” And to be led, “not into temptation, but delivered from evil….”

Is it God’s will that the life created by the Holy Spirit and ensouled forever should be aborted? One would think so because 55 percent of Catholics voted for a president this past election that not only is on record for saying he doesn’t know when human rights should be given to a baby (and he’s a highly touted Constitutional lawyer from Harvard), and worse believes the pregnancy of an unmarried, young girl is a “punishment from God” for her “mistake.” And if that is not bad enough, this man, as a State Senator in Illinois, voted and spoke against the “Baby Born Alive” legislation passed by the Legislature after a nurse found a baby dying in a broom closet in a hospital named, of all things “Christ Hospital” of Oak Lawn.

This man got 55%of the Catholic vote!!! How could that be? I’ll tell you how, similar drivel, as the subject in this article, taught by the US Conference of Catholic Bishops the past 25 years when they changed the definition of “prolife” from what it was created to do, counter the pro-aborts calling themselves “pro-choice,” to mean anything from raising the minimum wage to low income and poor people getting loans for homes they can’t afford to pay for, and every thing in between, including caring for the environment.

The Church is not a leader of mankind any more, but a follower…trying to fit in saying, “Look at me, I believe that too.” She has lost her simple, common sensible way. As a result, evil flourishes, and God’s most cherished creation – human life – continues to be disembodied by abortion and destroyed by head’s being savagely cut off and car bombs and airliners filled with travelers being blown up in crowed market places or flown into high rise buildings filled with workers.